Despite 16 kills by sophomore Jacie Fiedler, the Blue Demons dropped a 3-1 match to UC Riverside on Friday at the Golden Bear Invitational. DePaul plays No. 5 Cal and James Madison on Saturday.
BERKELEY, Calif. - Despite 16 kills by DePaul sophomore Jacie Fielder, the Blue Demon volleyball team fell to UC-Riverside 3-1 (26-24, 25-17, 25-23, 25-17) Friday in the opening match of the Golden Bear Invitational at Cal's Haas Pavilion..
Fielder led the Blue Demons with a .324 attack percentage, while setter Christy Landschoot dished out 40 assists.
The Blue Demons (0-3) came out on fire in set number one, as they tallied 14 kills and two service aces compared to UC Riversides 13 kills and no aces. Tied at 10, the Blue Demons strung together three unanswered points to take their largest lead of the set. UC Riverside would claw its way back and needed just one point to close out the win. However the Blue Demons would not surrender and rallied off four straight points to tie the set at 24 on a Fiedler and Landschoots block. A Riverside attack error and bad set would allow DePaul to take the first set, 26-24.
UC Riverside (4-2) answered in the second set as the squad raced out to a 12-6 advantage and forced DePaul head coach Amy Hardison to take an early timeout. Following the break in action, the Blue Demons pulled within four at 15-11 on a Caitlin Callaghan kill. However, UC Riverside continued to terminate the ball well and won the second set 25-17 behind a .259 attack percentage. The Blue Demons hit just .029 in the set.
The two teams battled in the in the third set, but it was Riverside who came out on top 25-23. DePaul opened up the set with three unanswered points and would take an 11-8 advantage on a Callaghan kill. Riverside tied the set at 12 and the two teams would continue to trade points until Riverside took a 21-20 advantage on a Dominque Cowling kill. Riverside closed out the set on a six four run. DePaul hit a match-high .302 in set.
Capitalizing on its momentum from the third set, Riverside hit .314, while the Blue Demons hit a match-low .022 in the fourth set. Riverside won the fourth set 25-17.
Sarah Cullen led the Blue Demon defense with 17 digs, while Callaghan finished with 16 and Katherine Knutson chipped in 14.
Kelly Fink led Riverside and the court with 22 kills and .417 attack percentage.
The Blue Demons return to the court on Saturday and face No. 5 Cal at 2 p.m. (CST) and close out the tournament with a 6:30 p.m. match with James Madison.
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